This is a tale of two kits, literally. I was familiar with the Ford LN8000 that’s the basis of the racecar hauler, but the Dodge Dart Kit Car racer was new, both in model form and as a full-size car.

There were differences in each kit’s execution, with the Ford overall being the easier model to build.

Both kits are molded in white, with clear and chrome-plated sprues as well. The truck also has a pair of taillights molded in clear red plastic.

The Ford carries its 184 parts on 12 white sprues, two chrome-plated, one clear, and the aforementioned clear red. As an older kit, there is some flash, but not a ridiculous amount.

There were some odd chrome-plated choices though - I can’t imagine anyone plating the cast iron exhaust manifolds of a Caterpillar V8. The manifolds and a few other engine parts were treated to several baths of oven cleaner, but the chrome was stubborn. I finally had to resort to scraping some of it off.

Assembling the frame tripped me up.

The front two crossmembers, which hold the engine and the front of the cab, are two-part assemblies. Locating tabs are imprecise, so I didn’t end up with a square frame the first time.

The front had a twist to it, so I broke apart the joints, carved and filed everything to fit, then reassembled it, being more careful to keep the parts square and flat.

Another thing to be aware of is the wheel assembly. The wheel flanges need to be cleaned up on the inside, and the wheels need to be scraped clean of chrome, before the flanges will fit snugly on the wheels.

If you’re impatient, you too can snap a flange by forcing it onto the wheel. Fortunately, I did this on one of the inner rear wheels, so it’s not noticeable.

The Richard Petty Dodge Dart “Kit Car” is an interesting subject. Until I saw this model, I didn’t know Chrysler had offered a factory racecar to the public.

You could buy it in several stages, from a bare frame to a race-ready car. Less than 100 were sold, but King Richard himself assisted in the development.

The model has a lot of separately molded parts, from the racing frame, to the full roll cage; most of what you’d see on the full-size car is on the model. The eight white sprues, plus clear and chrome-plated plastic, carry 92 parts.

This is not a snap-together model, though. Locating pins and tabs are few and far between. In fact, most of the pins you’ll find are from ejector pins that must be stuck in the mold.

The roll cage is a small forest of them, and one on the fire extinguisher was ¼-inch long. In hindsight, it would’ve been better to assemble the roll cage off of the model, then clean up the joints, and paint it. With few locating pins, it’s just a matter of lining parts up, then bending them to your will as you wait for the glue to cure.

I also should have left the exhaust headers until I installed the engine. Then I might have had a chance to get the headers to line up with the exhaust pipes.

The front suspension required a bit of ingenuity to assemble. I ended up slipping bits of .040-in. x .060-in. styrene between the frame and the upper A-arms so the spindles would fit. This had the effect of lowering the front end of the car, which wasn’t a bad thing.

And yes, the front wheels really should stick out past the fenders like that.

While I was carving and shaping parts, I drilled out the ends of the exhaust pipes, and also the center caps of the rear wheels. Because of the various separate parts, this little Dodge could be the basis of a really detailed model - it even has a removable trunk lid so you can check out the racing fuel cell, but it’s not a beginner’s kit.

The set includes a large decal sheet for the truck and car, but they were a bit of a letdown. The white printing on the numbers wasn’t opaque, and there was visible pixilation, as though the decals were printed on an old ink-jet machine.

The decals also fought all of the setting solutions I applied. Fortunately, the model’s contours are smooth. It would’ve been a nice addition to include emblems for the truck, and dash decals for both models.

I had fun building both models, but they do require a bit of modeling, not just assembly.

There are a lot of racing decals out there, so you could easily get around the decal issue with aftermarket products.

Add some detailing to both models, and you could have an impressive result.